Listen to narration by a local historian

Warner Castle

Jeff Ludwig

Historical Researcher, City of Rochester

Doubtless, almost everyone in Rochester can remember the wonder with which they first beheld Warner Castle. Tucked away in an enchanted corner of Highland Park, appropriately enough on Castle Drive, the ivy-strewn gothic structure emerges from the surrounding forest like something out of a fairytale.

Built in 1854 for Horatio Warner, an affluent jurist and executive, the imposing fortress was constructed to his specifications under the supervision of architect, Merwin Austin.

Conflicting stories swirl around the castle’s influences. According to some accounts, Warner recreated a smaller replica of an English castle that he had once visited; other sources claim that the structure reflects Warner’s fascination with the ancestral keeps of Scotland’s historic Clan Douglas.

The exterior of Warner’s castle was no less grand. Buttressed by a commanding tower, its crenellated stone walls were laid 22 inches thick. The sprawling property, graced with bountiful gardens, meadows, and wooded groves, extended from South Avenue to Mt. Hope Avenue, Menlo Place to Highland Avenue.

Warner resided in the Castle until his death in 1876; his widow lived there until she passed away ten years later. The castle stayed in the family for another generation, bequeathed to Horatio’s son John Warner, who occupied the estate through 1902, when he sold the home to George Ramsdell.

After a decade in the castle, Ramsdell placed it back on the market in 1912. Frank and Merry Dennis, owners of a successful candy factory, bought the castle and hired landscape architect Alling Stephen DeForest to revamp its grounds.

Deforest spent a decade— from his original commission in 1920 until finishing his work in 1930— completing a masterpiece. Under his watch, the castle grounds gained the famous Sunken Gardens.

Naturopath Christopher Gian-Cursio acquired the castle in 1944, transforming it from a residence to sanitarium.

The city of Rochester purchased the structure for $37,500 in 1951, converting it into a herbarium and the central office for the Parks Department. Nearly 100 years old at the time of the sale, Warner Castle had fallen into disrepair. A Democrat & Chronicle report on the transaction referred to the building as “that medieval-looking pile of gray stone on the hill.”

City work crews logged long hours renovating the moldering keep, rebuilding those areas eroded by the passage of time. The city turned care for the castle and grounds over to Monroe County in 1961 and restorative work continued throughout the latter twentieth century.

Today, Warner Castle is home to the Rochester Civic Garden Center, which has opened the once private space to the public. According to their records, the Garden Center receives over 15,000 visitors a year. Many people are drawn there to attend classes, browse the botanical library, or just explore.

If you haven’t seen Warner Castle yet, plan a trip and prepare for a breathtaking marvel. If you have, visit again anyway— perhaps you’ll recall the magic of that fateful first encounter. Learn more at http://www.rcgc.org/